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Monthly Archives: May 2017

When weather conditions pushed the opening of the Rams’ and Chargers’ new Southern California home from a 2019 date to 2020, it didn’t just force two franchises into sub-optimal stadiums for an extra year; it also put Los Angeles’ Super Bowl LV bid in jeopardy.

Now, Los Angeles will not host the 2021 Super Bowl after all, when officials at the NFL Spring League Meeting voted to move the sporting world’s premier event to Tampa. Instead, LA will host the 2022 Super Bowl, according to the Los Angeles Times’ Sam Farmer.Dwight Howard Womens Jersey
The Titans have been a regular fixture at Bridgestone Arena throughout the NHL playoffs, donning gold jerseys and cheering on Music City’s only other professional franchise. On Monday night, Lewan, Quinton Spain, Ben Jones, and a handful of other Tennessee blockers hyped the home crowd with a mid-game cheers … quickly followed by the slamming of five tallboys of Bud Light.

The hype worked. Nashville got off to a 3-1 start, then rallied to break a 3-3 tie in the third period to dispatch the Ducks and claim the biggest series win in franchise history. If the Predators can dig out four more victories in the Stanley Cup Finals, they’ll be the first major professional team to bring a title home to Music City.

DeMario Davis Womens Jersey The Titans may have to curtail their drinking as organized team activities ramp up as June approaches, but they’ll have to fend off some heavy peer pressure from the rowdy Nashville crowd after Monday’s performance. Offseason workouts began Tuesday and will run three days a week until June 8. Tennessee is primed to build off an encouraging 9-7 campaign this fall, but they’ll need Lewan and his crew at full strength to do so.

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Mets management: Noah is the foundation of our franchise. We can’t afford to have him miss one start in April. Pitch him on Sunday!

Syndergaard proceeds to have the worst outing of his career before throwing a pitch that leaves him writhing in pain. He’s been diagnosed with a torn lat muscle, after finally getting that MRI, and is out indefinitely. The Mets’ season is pretty much over by May 1.

Debate all you want about whether the Mets could have forced Syndergaard to get an MRI. What was entirely under their control was whether to pitch him. In an age when every young pitcher is handled with the gentlest of kid gloves, how do you not rest your 24-year-old ace for a couple of weeks while he’s battling arm issues? It doesn’t matter whether the guy tells you he’s fine. Everyone saw this disaster coming. Everyone, that is, except Mets management.

It feels almost unprecedented for one team to make three colossal errors in judgment in succession like this. Especially when handling star players.

But if it was going to happen, Mets management would be the ones to pull it off.

Antoine Vermette Authentic Jersey NFL officials, of course, already have the option to eject players for illegal hits, and the league already can suspend players for such offenses. The rarity of those ejections and suspensions, though, apparently is not satisfactory.

Tampa police said Martin was driving eastbound in his black BMW when he was struck by a black Kia after the driver of that vehicle ran a stop sign.

The Rams actually moved down seven spots and gained the 91st overall pick in the third round as the Bills moved up to take East Carolina receiver Zay Jones. Buffalo also got a fourth-round pick (149th overall) from the Rams.

The 6-3, 239-pound Everett began his career at UAB, but finished at USA after the Blazers briefly shut down their program. Everett has very good hands and excellent athleticism. His 90 catches over the last two seasons earned him a pair of first-team All-Sun Belt selections.

The Rams picked Western Kentucky’s Tyler Higbee in the fourth round of last year’s draft and then took South Carolina State’s Temarrick Hemingway in the sixth round. Hemmingway played sparingly last season while Higbee caught 11 passes for 85 yards and a touchdown for the NFL’s worst offense.

Lance Kendricks, who is also 6-3 but 10 pounds heavier than Everett, left via free agency to sign with the Packers after six seasons with the Rams.

The Rams hope their young tight ends can grow into playmakers for second-year quarterback Jared Goff, who was the No. 1 overall pick of the 2016 draft. The Rams dealt away their 2017 first-round pick to move up to No. 1 to take Goff last year.

With the departure of David Ortiz, the Red Sox were supposed to replace their retired star’s offensive output by committee.

They needed MVP candidate Mookie Betts to continue to rake. They needed Xander Bogaerts to play like he did for the first three quarters of 2016. They needed Andrew Benintnendi to make good on the promising first sample size he put together at the end of last season.Youth Shamar Stephen Jersey
Two other things to consider with this idea, both of which should attract the purists:

A no-DH, no-pitcher order might not necessarily reduce the need for pinch hitters. They could still be used in lefty-righty matchups. Worried about strategy disappearing? There’s a bone for you.

With no DH, every game would be nine on nine again, even if both teams’ No. 9 wouldn’t ever have to hit.

The latter consideration is a small, but important, one, because it does harken to a time when both leagues made the pitcher hit. Baseball still sells nostalgia even while it’s occupied with making changes.Youth Clive Walford Jersey
And that’s one of the many reasons why both camps (DH, no DH) should be OK with this change.

Before we get into that other thing that has kept Kaepernick from finding his ideal second-team scenario, the Seahawks can be a great benefit to him finding his way on the field again.

LA could easily employ platoons at each position: Andrew Toles/Scott Van Slyke in left; Joc Pederson/Franklin Gutierrez in center; and Yasiel Puig/Andre Ethier in right. That leaves out Enrique Hernandez, Trayce Thompson and Brett Eibner, players with big league experience who are listed as outfielders on the 40-man roster. Thompson is likely headed to Triple-A as he recovers from a back injury, and Eibner is seen as a depth piece. Still, Dodgers president Andrew Friedman is an enviable position if he wants to make trades.

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Rangers third baseman Adrian Beltre is going to the World Baseball Classic, but it’s unclear whether he’ll play in the first round for the Dominican Republic, The Dallas Morning News reported Monday.

I’ll be available for the first round, said Beltre, who has been fighting a sore left calf. If they want me to play, I can play. I’m comfortable with the decisions. There’s no discomfort when I move or run. But even though I’m going, it doesn’t mean I have to be in the lineup. I am open to what they would like. We have a good enough team that if everybody does their jobs, I’m hopeful we will advance.

It was my decision for Noah to pitch with input with [a] variety of different sources, Alderson said Monday, via ESPN. The MRI was not dismissed out of hand, and we had to evaluate the situation. … From the overall standpoint, it is not to say things couldn’t have been done differently. From my standpoint, I made the decision.

Rashad Jennings Authentic Jersey The team was forced to scratch Syndergaard ahead of last Thursday’s scheduled start against the Braves with biceps and shoulder discomfort. Manager Terry Collins told reporters the right-hander was dealing with a tired arm and Syndergaard was slated to have an MRI on Friday, though he opted not to have one after throwing a bullpen session.

Syndergaard was forced to leave Sunday’s 23-5 loss to the Nationals in the second inning due to the injury and was later placed on the 10-day disabled list. While there is no timetable for his return, Alderson acknowledged the severity of the injury and said, I think it’s going to be a considerable amount of time.

Syndergaard, 24, is 1-2 so far this season with a 3.29 ERA and 32 strikeouts in 27 1/3 innings pitched.

Scherzer, who in November accepted an invitation to play in the event, was pulled due to an ongoing rehabilitation process for a stress fracture in the knuckle of his right ring finger.

While the injury hurts Team USA’s chances, the Nationals said the right-hander will be ready for spring training.E. J. Manuel Jersey
Scherzer went 20-7 with a 2.96 ERA, a 11.2 K:9 innings ratio and a 6.2 WAR this past season to win the NL Cy Young Award. He also became just the third pitcher in NL history with 20 wins, 250 strikeouts, and an opponent batting average under .200 in a season.

How special were those Commodores teams? Three Vandy players were taken in the first round of the 2015 MLB Draft 鈥?shortstop Dansby Swanson (first, Diamondbacks), Fulmer (eighth, White Sox) and right-hander Walker Buehler (24th, Dodgers) 鈥?and six other Commodores were picked before the draft ended. That’s after five Vandy players were picked in the 2014 draft, including first-rounder Tyler Beede, a right-handed pitcher.

I was part of a championship culture, a championship clubhouse. The relationships we had there were one of a kind, Fulmer said. Being around, being involved in that and being around Coach (Tim) Corbin, you’re in professional baseball now and you want to re-create, re-enact that whole concept of being close to your teammates and doing stuff with them. I think it was very beneficial, and I think we have something special here.

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The new public face of the NFL’s officials has one key difference on his resume compared to his predecessor, Dean Blandino.A.Q. Shipley Jersey
Alberto Riveron, named Wednesday as senior vice president of officiating, spent nine years on the field calling NFL games. That was an attribute on-field officials had all but demanded in a replacement when Blandino resigned last month after four years on the job.

Riveron, who has worked in the league office since 2013, will now step up to oversight of the entire officiating operation along with a pair of deputies: Russell Yurk, who will be in charge of replay and administration, and Wayne Mackie, who will oversee evaluation and development of officials.

The hope is that their experience watching plays unfold from the field — Mackie was an NFL official for 10 years and Yurk called high school and college games for a decade — will give them a different perspective in leading the much-scrutinized department.

Al has done a terrific job as a key member of our officiating staff for the past four seasons, commissioner Roger Goodell said in a release. Prior to that, Al was an outstanding on-field official who earned the respect of his fellow officials, as well as coaches and players alike. To have Al leading our officiating department, and then to add talented, knowledgeable instant replay and officiating experts like Russell and Wayne, is a tremendous positive for us as we look forward to the 2017 season.

“I am humbled, and I am grateful to Jim and the Irsay family for this tremendous honor,” Manning said.

Manning spent the first 13 seasons of his NFL career with the Colts, leading them to victory in Super Bowl 41. After several neck surgeries, he was released only to be scooped up by the Broncos for his final four NFL seasons.

He won Super Bowl 50 with Denver, making him the only starting quarterback in NFL history to lead two different teams to Super Bowl victories.

The Rams hired a young offensive hotshot as their coach, but that person was Sean McVay. The Bills went with a well-respected longtime defensive coordinator, but it was Sean McDermott. The 49ers, Broncos and Chargers went in different directions with their new head coaches.

The Memphis Grizzlies and San Antonio Spurs gave the basketball universe its best game of the playoffs so far with a down-to-the-wire showdown where each team’s biggest star set new playoff career-highs, exchanging blow for blow down the stretch.

The Grizzlies took Game 4, 110-108, on Marc Gasol’s game-winning layup in overtime, but this game was about an epic matchup between Mike Conley and Kawhi Leonard.Bradley Roby Jersey
Behind a 6’11 frame, Antetotkounmpo ran the Bucks’ offense as a scorer, rebounder, and passer. He spun his way through the paint like a point guard, yet reached up for hook shots like a center. When the entire defense collapsed on him, he had hawk-eye vision to spot an open shooter.

The unpredictably of what he would, or even could, do next is what allowed him to finish in the top-20 in points, assists, rebounds, blocks, and steals. That’s something that was never done before in NBA history. No matter how much film you found on him, he brought something even more unthinkable the next night.

Jim Brown Limited Jersey It’s terrifying that Giannis is years away from his prime, and that there’s more the Bucks can do to fill out his impossible frame.

Thanks to the Bucks’ competitive six-game playoff to the Raptors, the Greek Freak isn’t just a League Pass watch. He’s made for primetime television, even if the rest of his team’s roster isn’t. His long strides are now graceful, his handle is tight, and he’s destroying rims on his finishes.

This season proved that Giannis is here to stay as one of the league’s best all-around players, even at just 22 years old. He’s a safe bet to be among MVP candidates in the coming years, even in an era in which Russell Westbrook, James Harden, Kawhi Leonard and LeBron James reign.

The Toronto Raptors nearly collapsed all the way in the fourth quarter of Game 6, when they allowed the Milwaukee Bucks to go on a 34-7 run to retake the lead with 2 minutes and 29 seconds to go. Their advantage was once as many as 25 points. That faded into the final minutes

Youth Brandon Mebane Jersey It could of been one biggest blown leads in NBA playoff history and would have forced an all-deciding Game 7.

Instead, Toronto will limp into the second-round, winning the series in the most Raptors way ever with a 92-89 victory.

A visually exhausted Giannis Antetokounmpo took the reins of his team at home and almost gave the Bucks a chance at a major series upset.

Youth Morris Claiborne Jersey Last season, Kerr missed 43 games due to complications from a back surgery and a spinal fluid leak. He wasn’t fully healthy even upon returning, and his symptoms have occasionally returned even this season. But Kerr coached all 82 games and missed only one shootaround this year, per Thompson, so him missing Saturday’s playoff game is a clear sign he’s struggling.

Kerr will continue to game plan with Brown prior to games and will help the team prepare as much as he possibly can. Brown’s prior coaching experience in Cleveland with LeBron James and Los Angeles with Kobe Bryant is a huge part of why he was hired over another assistant who hadn’t been a head coach in the past. The Warriors knew this could potentially happen, and they’re confident with Brown leading the way in Kerr’s absence.

Still, though, the Warriors obviously want to see Kerr back as soon as possible. And because the Warriors aren’t even sure what is causing Kerr’s symptoms, they don’t know for certain when that will be.

Going forward, Kerr’s health is the biggest worry in Golden State. If the Warriors can close out Portland on Monday, it will at least give Kerr time before the team’s second-round series begins.